Ways to get on with your Coworkers
You don’t need to be popular with your coworkers in order to get your job done; in fact, focusing on your work rather than your colleagues may be better for your career in the short-term. However, maintaining a good relationship with your coworkers does make your time at work an awful lot more pleasant and team working will be a lot more efficient as a result. If you want to bepopular with your coworkers, there are a number of things that you can do.
Remember important personal facts
Most coworkers like to be thought of as people rather than machines, complete with all the personal quirks and habits that they may have. Remember key facts about each person and make a point of asking about them. Celebrating birthdays is also a good way of making yourself popular, especially if you can show that you remembered on your own rather than being reminded by the office manager. You may want to check first that your co-worker wants their birthday to be celebrated at work of course; not everyone wants their age to be remembered.
Offer to help out when necessary
Be a team player as much as possible, rather than spending all your time and energy on your own job. Keep an eye out for coworkers who may be struggling to get things done and offer to help them out, even if it involves spending an extra hour at work in order to do so. At the same time, don’t be so considerate that you make other people look bad. According to Science Daily, a study atWashington State Universityshowed that workers who were too unselfish ‘raised the bar’ for others, causing resentment rather than the desired effect of popularity. The same goes for being too good at your job, especially if it makes you stand out over others.
Be approachable
If you go to work, sit at your desk and just get on with your job, you are unlikely to be very popular. Make an effort to let people know that you are willing to do your job, but that you are also approachable and are prepared to listen to anyone with a problem. This is particularly important if you are a manager, but even if you aren’t, it will also make you popular amongst colleagues and will stand you in good stead for the future if you are hoping to get into management. By all means shut your door if you have work to do that needs concentration, but otherwise, be ready to interact.
Avoid spreading gossip
Gossip can be a great deal of fun, especially if you are the one spreading the gossip. However, for those who are being talked about, it is deeply unpleasant and they are very unlikely to see your participation as welcome, even if you aren’t the instigator. This creates cliques within the workplace, which is painful for the ones who don’t belong and feel as though they are being talked about all the time. If you don’t want to get into arguments with the gossipers, stay as neutral as possible and walk away when gossip begins to get out of hand.
Skip the unnecessary pranks
It’s all very well being a prankster at home, but it can be very annoying when you’re at work, especially if you are playing jokes at the expense of someone else. Remember that you are supposed to be at work and concentrating on your job. If you want to develop a less stuffy atmosphere at work, try being friendly rather than too jokey, or save the pranks until work is finished. In the same way that gossip can create cliques, pranks at the expense of others can alienate certain people, as well as waste time, and is unlikely to make you popular.
Be friendly to everyone
There is a tendency for people to believe that they have to make a particular effort to be friendly to superiors. However, you should be friendly to everyone in the workplace, regardless of their position. Smile at the doorman and say thank you when they hold the door open for you and be friendly to receptionists, secretaries and assistants. It will be noticed and appreciated. If you are only pleasant to your superiors, coworkers will consider you to be sucking up; someone who should be avoided at all costs because you could be talking behind their backs.
It isn’t difficult to be popular with coworkers, but you do need to consider your behaviour on a regular basis to ensure that you are popular with everyone, rather than a certain groups in the workplace.
